A Night's Passing
by TheVampireLestat
Summary: Rated PG for mild cursing; Ramadi Mountainbreeze, a MUCK character of mine, loses everything. His background story -- please R/R!


Night. A time of beauty .. perfection. Silent stars stood vigilant watch over those slumbering, sheltering everyone in their soft embrace. A single star up in the night sky flickered, pulsing and shining before winking out.  
  
Ramadi Moutainbreeze sighed softly, turning his gaze away from the night sky. The horse was young; perhaps twenty two or three. Yet, he carried a way about him; a hardness, a power -- he was a warrior, one could see easily, even if they didn't happen to see the short sword he carried at his hip.  
  
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"  
  
He turned toward the voice, muzzle splitting into a soft smile as he gazed upon the only one he truly loved. "Indeed, 'tis."  
  
The petite young mare folded her skirts under her, sitting down beside the warrior. "Makes you think of better days .. better things to come." She ran an open palm over her swollen stomach, and smiled up at him, snuggling into him as he wrapped a thickly muscled arm 'round her.  
  
Ramadi smiled slightly, bending over to kiss her softly, his muzzle dipping down to brush against the extended stomach in which his child lay. He glanced back up at her, stormcloud gaze meeting her emerald. "I just want to have you out of this God forsaken place."  
  
Azra shook her head sadly, turning her head to meet to gaze upon the still smoldering Albentredes Palace. "K'sira didn't do her job properly, it may seem .. there's no hope anymore."  
  
"Bloody ferrets," Ramadi hissed vehemently of the V'Kovain Palace that stood not two miles away. "They took everything .."  
  
"Not everything, love," Azra whispered softly, lips brushing softly against the side of his face. "We still have each other. Come .. let's go home."  
  
Later that night .  
  
Ramadi bolted upright in the bed, stirring his wife laying nearby. "Ramadi, what on earth .."  
  
The warrior cast a hasty finger to Azra's lips, getting quickly out of bed and pulling on his breeches, only taking time to buckle on his sword and give Azra a quick kiss. "I'll be back in a few moments. Stay still, and don't leave, whatever you do." He started for the door, only pausing long enough to give her a long, lingering glance. "I love you, Azra. Remember that for anything."  
  
With that, he turned and exited into the night.  
  
Outside was hell. Literally.  
  
"Ramadi!" An otter, bleeding profusely from his face, ran to the horse, clutching at him pleadingly. "Thank God you're here! They're everywhere!"  
  
Ramadi looked over the situation with a failing heart. The ferrets and their allies -- mostly mice, squirrels, and rats, with the odd hare or two -- were everywhere. The few he had left of his own army - otters, mostly, a few other horses like himself and even an assortment of stoats and cats -- were fighting the V'Kovain allegiance.  
  
Blood saturated the ground beneath his feet, and the horrific scene took its toll on the horse before he regained his senses. "To arms!" he roared, at the top of his voice, charging forward into the melee.  
  
Crushing, squirming, breathing, dying . bodies crushed around him, all stabbing with knives, daggers, swords, pikes .. many scored wounds on the warrior, but still he pressed on. Form after form, his sword hummed through the air as a living thing, severing limbs and causing fountains of blood to spray through the night.  
  
And still, he fought on. Until, finally, he stood alone, facing against three rats, wielding long, bejeweled swords. They chuckled at him, menacingly. "Time to go down, horse."  
  
Ramadi flattened his ears, adjusting his grip on the blade. "Never." He was a blademaster -- they all knew by the three bar lines engraved deep in the steel of his blade. But, one of them was, he noted, and the others moved with such confidence that they could not be bad fighters.  
  
They attacked.  
  
Meanwhile .  
  
"Ramadi?" Azra sat up, hopefully, as the door to her bedroom opened. "I've been waiting so long, it sounds so awful out ." She gasped and drew back as the cloaked figure came into view. "V'Kovain!"  
  
The ferret Lord smiled slightly, drawing a long blade out of his cloak. "Yes, my Lady Azra .. and now, you shall pay the debt."  
  
Azra shrank back, 'til her back touched the wall. "Please, Lord, spare me, I've done nothing .." Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she pulled the covers protectively over her. "And the baby .. please .."  
  
"Oh, you're carrying his child, now?" The Lord smirked slightly. "How .. convenient. Yes. Since my warriors are disposing so neatly of your husband, I shall dispose of you. You are the one who corrupted my daughter, Azra, and it is you who shall pay."  
  
She didn't even have time to scream with agony as the long dagger slid 'twixt her ribs and into her heart. The Lord smiled slightly, drawing a circle around her eyes and touching her under the chin. "Aiheu abamami, Azra'sha," he murmered in his native tongue. "Godspeed." Then, purposely upsetting a lit candle, he left. The fire caught the bedsheets and blazed hotly in the air.  
  
....  
  
  
  
Ramadi stood alone, shivering and trembling in the aftermath of the battle. Blood and humors saturated his form, matting his white fur and staining his black fur crimson. His mane hung limply with sweat, and he had dozens of small cuts all over his body, though the rats lay dead. Most the blood on him was theirs, not his own.  
  
Brushing his forelock from his eyes, the pony glanced around, panting hard. Only a few stood .. all his own men, but only perhaps a score stood alive.  
  
But then, the smell of acrid smoke filled his nostrils, along with the yelp of 'fire!' He whirled around, disbelief settling on his face before a rage filled yell permeated the night air. "NO!"  
  
Ramadi bolted forward, all signs of fatigue gone from his body .. but then, pairs of paws grappled with him, pulling him down to earth and trapping his sword paw beneath somebeast's knee. "Ramadi! No!"  
  
"Azra!" The pony strained, every muscle in his body heaving as he tried to go into the blazing house. "Damn you, let me GO!"  
  
An intense pain echoed through his skull, and he knew nothing.  
  
Later ..  
  
When he awoke, he was still in the street, though all the beasts were still gathered around. Burnt fur and flesh mingled with the smell of fire, and Ramadi knew. He drew himself up, shaking his head softly as he began forward, pausing at the flaming door, allowing the heat to singe his fur. "No .." he whispered, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as he gazed up at sky. "No .." He fell to his knees, face buried in his hands.  
  
Three days later.  
  
Ramadi knelt at his wife's grave, touching it with one finger. Pain coursed through his heart and body, and he closed his eyes briefly .. images came to mind. Laughing as children. Playing. Their first kiss ..  
  
"Hi."  
  
An eighteen year old Ramadi stood at the doorway, a small smile set upon his features. "Oh .. hey."  
  
The filly grinned, touching him on the end of his nose as she drew closer. "Is that all you can say? Just .. hey? You're mean, Ram."  
  
"Aw hush," the pony youth grinned back, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "Been a long time, Azra."  
  
"Not really," she returned, drawing away and placing her hands on his chest. "So .."  
  
His heart hammered briefly, and he steeled his nerve and leaned over, kissing her softly on the lips. "So, what?"  
  
She blinked at him, then a small smile spread across her face .  
  
Something wet splattered on the back his paw, and Ramadi broke from his daydream, almost surprised to discover tears flowing freely down his face. His heart ached, but he held all emotion in ..  
  
He reached into his pocket, drawing forth a silver chain with two golden bands dangling from it; wedding rings. He closed his eyes, allowing the chain to slip from his finger and drop into the dust that was her grave. Knowing hungry eyes were to be set upon the chain and rings before nightfall, the pony suppressed a sob, biting his lower lip hard. He drug his fingers across the gravestone. "I love you, Azra," he whispered.  
  
Then, with a heavy heart, the pony rose and gathered his belongings, heading westward with the setting sun.  
  
He was never seen in the east again.  
  
Ramadi eventually reached Mossflower, where he lived for several years by himself, defending the weak and still retaining his code of honor. Most recently, the horse moved on to Jadehaven and the Knights of Valor, where he rose to become one of the head knights there.  
  
Ramadi and all original characters © me. Mossflower © Brian Jaques. Jadehaven and Knights of Valor © their builder on RedwallMUCK. 


End file.
